That helped Chinese stocks pare losses, with both Shanghai Composite Index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index each down 0.8pc. Earlier in the day, Shanghai was down as much as 1.9pc while Hong Kong was off 1.7pc.

Japan’s Nikkei average closed 0.1pc lower in choppy trade, with the benchmark falling as much as 1.5pc before a brief swing into positive territory on China news.

The announcement by the Chinese commerce ministry of the planned meeting in late August comes after a lull in talks between the two sides. The last official round of talks was in early June when US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross met Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in Beijing.

Despite the modest reprieve, markets remain vulnerable as signs of a slowdown in the Chinese economy and Turkey’s volatile currency keep investors on guard.

Sakuma said Turkey’s market swings reflect the fact that it is one of the more vulnerable parts of the global economy at this stage in the interest rate cycle, as the Federal Reserve seeks to normalise its monetary policy.

However, he noted there were arguably larger risks for investors, such as weak earnings from Tencent Holdings.

The Chinese tech giant reported its first quarterly profit fall in nearly 13 years on weak gaming revenue.

That knocked other Asian tech firms with South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, Asia’s third largest firm by market cap, down to a one-year low.

Wall Street’s major indexes closed lower on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 down 0.8pc, its biggest percentage drop since late June, amid disappointing earnings and escalating global trade worries.

“Also, Tencent’s earnings shock hurt tech stocks, sending the Nasdaq index lower. It reminded investors that the US-China trade spat is starting to harm the health of even the tech firms, which had been a major driver of the US share rally.”

Oil prices took an additional hit after data showed a surprise weekly increase in US crude stockpiles, compounding worries about a weaker global economic growth outlook before bouncing back on the trade talk news.

US crude oil last stood at $65.12 per barrel, after having fallen to two-month lows of $64.42 per barrel, following Wednesday’s 3.2pc fall.